Iran marks US embassy takeover

Iranians across the country are marking the 31st anniversary of the takeover of the US embassy by Iranian students.

Thousands of Iranians gathered in front of the former US embassy building in Tehran on Thursday to mark the day, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The large crowd waved flags, carried banners and chanted slogans against the US and Israel.

In November 1979 and in less than a year after the victory of the Islamic Revolution that toppled a US-backed monarchy, Iranian university students that called themselves “students following the line of [the late] Imam [Khomeini]” seized the US embassy in Tehran.

The students justified the takeover by insisting that the compound had become a center of espionage and planning to overthrow the newly institute Islamic Republic establishment in Iran.

The students occupying the embassy later published documents proving that the compound was indeed engaged in plans and measures to overthrow the Islamic system.

The November 4th has been labeled as a national day of resistance against global arrogance in Iran. Every year, the Iranian nation, particularly its students, hold rallies across the country to mark the day.

On Wednesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei praised the takeover as an indication of the bravery of Iran’s revolutionary youth.

“This event symbolizes the bravery and courage of the young revolutionary generation against the authority of America because taking over the den of espionage destabilized US power… and brought America to its knees,” the Leader said in an address to students in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

“This fact should always remain in the historical memory of the Iranian nation, and especially the youth, that America never seeks ordinary relations with [other] countries… it seeks a master-servant relationship and the looting of the resources of [other] nations,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.